The Federation Against Software Theft (Fast) has identified 25 firms illegally downloading and sharing software since the second phase of its Operation Tracker scheme began in April.

Fast successfully applied to the High Court in January to force ISPs to hand over the details of suspected software pirates. Now Operation Tracker is pursuing suspects, and Fast said that it is planning further investigations.

According to Fast, the current initiative should act as a warning to firms that allow under-licensing or illegal sharing of software.

“Large organisations haven’t got all the tools they need… to catch the odd individual who [illegally shares software],” said Fast chief executive Geoff Webster. “We discover this activity by looking in from outside.”

Meanwhile, IT Week has received a detailed complaint from an IT chief unhappy at the way in which regional Fast officers put pressure on him to join the organisation.

Webster acknowledged that Fast’s staff sometimes get “excited” when they see companies that they think could benefit from its education programme. “There will always be a certain number of IT directors who feel they have been pushed harder than they would like,” he added. “It’s something we’ve got to manage very carefully because the last thing we want is that [these firms decide] they don’t want to deal with [the issue of piracy].”

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